


no one but you.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: the cajun and the southern belle (aka all my remy/marie fics) [12]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe – Modern Setting, Alternate Universe – Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe – No Powers, Christmas, Christmas Eve, December writing challenge, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, First Meetings, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Holidays, Inspired by Music, Minor Original Character(s), New Year's Eve, One-Sided Relationship, Parties, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Relationship(s), Short One Shot, Storytelling, Tumblr Prompt, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, christmas day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: I don't want a Christmas I'll forgetDon't want it to be just meI don't need another pretty giftI don't even need a tree'Cause all I ever wantedWas a single dream come trueAnd darling, that's youNo one but youor:  Grandpa Remy tells his six-year-old granddaughter all about how he and Grandma Marie met.  Just a much tamed down version because there was a lot that a six-year-old just can't hear.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Remy LeBeau/Rogue
Series: the cajun and the southern belle (aka all my remy/marie fics) [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1202533
Kudos: 18
Collections: December Writing Challenge - 2019





	no one but you.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grey_Summers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grey_Summers/gifts).



> happy December from the artist formerly known as porcelainsimplicity. 'tis still me, just a different username.
> 
> Day 15 of my December writing challenge. Prompt by lillie-writes on Tumblr. 
> 
> Day 15 prompt: “So…looks like we’re the only ones without dates, huh.”  
> Day 15 title song: No One But You by Daniela Andrade

_forty years in the future..._

Remy looked up when he heard someone call out 'Grandpa!' and he smiled as his granddaughter Marie came into view. He knew it had been nearly seven years since she had been born, but the fact that they'd named her after her grandmother still put a smile on his face. “Hello, sweetheart,” he said as she stopped in front of him. “Merry Christmas, Marie.”

“Merry Christmas, Grandpa,” Marie said. “Will you tell me a story?”

Remy smiled and motioned for her to climb into his lap. “What story do you want this time?”

Marie settled into his lap and smiled. “I want to hear how you met Grandma and fell in love. Mama said that you would tell me if I asked.”

Remy made a mental note to talk to his daughter about that before smiling at his granddaughter. “It's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes,” Marie said, bouncing with excitement. “Oh please, please, please tell me.”

Remy laughed and tried to think about how to tame the real story down. He could not be talking to a six-year-old about how they really met and fell in love. “Well, we met forty years ago, if you can imagine that. Just hearin' that number makes me feel old.”

Marie laughed and Remy continued. “Grandma Marie and I met at a party that our friends had thrown. It was very fun.”

_present day..._

Bobby sighed when Marie walked through the door. “You were supposed to bring a date.”

“There ain't no way I'm bringin' a date anywhere ever again,” Marie said, letting Bobby take her coat. “I am not gonna be in another relationship ever.”

“So, what? You're going to be alone for the rest of your life? No one to kiss at midnight at our New Year's Eve parties?”

“That's right, darlin',” Marie said, looking around. “You don't know how lucky you have it, Bobby. You and John are perfect for each other. There ain't no one who fits with me.”

“I think that there will be someone who fits with you someday and then you'll change this ridiculous stance you have on relationships,” Bobby said. 

“Whatever,” Marie said, turning her gaze back to him. “I need a drink. Where are they?”

Bobby just sighed. “Drinks are in the kitchen as per usual.”

“Excellent. Happy New Year, Bobby.”

Marie walked off before he could say another thing. She really needed that drink.

About twenty minutes later, John opened the door to find Remy on the other side and he sighed heavily when he saw that Remy was alone. “I told you to bring a date.”

“There ain't no one to be bringin' and you know it,” Remy said, walking into the house and taking off his coat. 

“Ask out the girl from accounting already,” John said, shaking his head. “She would jump at the chance to go on a date with you.”

“I know,” Remy said. “That's why I don't ask. Where should I put my coat?”

“Give it here.” John took it from him and sighed. “I wanted you to have a midnight kiss you know.” 

“Well, maybe someday I will but it ain't today. Drinks?”

John sighed again. “They're in the kitchen.”

“Thank you,” Remy said, walking off. He really needed that drink.

As midnight approached, everyone started to pair off so they would be ready for the midnight kiss, and Remy sighed when he realized that he was going to have to watch everyone else have fun while he stood there like an idiot.

And then he saw her.

She was standing by herself near the fireplace and she wasn't pairing off with anyone, so Remy took a deep breath and walked towards her. Whoever she was, she was absolutely beautiful.

Marie looked up to see someone coming towards her, sighing. She knew she would reject whoever this guy was immediately and hopefully easily enough, and then she could return to being miserable.

And then she heard that Cajun accent.

“So…looks like we’re the only ones without dates, huh.”

Marie laughed. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

Remy heard the southern accent and was immediately intrigued. “It's nice to hear the voice of someone from down south,” he said. “I miss that.”

“I miss that too,” Marie said, silently telling herself that she absolutely was not going to let that accent get to her. Absolutely not.

“May I asked where you are from?” Remy asked.

“Caldecott, Mississippi,” Marie said. “I can tell you're from Louisiana but where?”

“Born and bred in New Orleans,” Remy replied. “It's a lot different here in New York than it is at home.”

“You can say that again,” Marie murmured. “I'd give anythin' for the south most days. But I've been here too long to give up and go back to Caldecott now. I miss it terribly but I think I'd miss my life here more if I left it.”

“I haven't been here that long so I can't say the same, but I miss home terribly too.”

Marie sighed as she heard John yell that the countdown was about to start. “I don't know why I even came to this party. The last thing I need is all these couples flauntin' their happiness in front of me.”

Remy let out a small laugh. “I feel the exact same way.”

Marie looked over at him. “Bad breakup?”

“My fiancée left me for another man,” Remy said, amazed that he got that sentence out without choking up. “It's been difficult.”

Marie immediately sympathized with him. “Well, the man I thought I was gonna spend the rest of my life with left me for another man, so I get how you're feelin'.”

Remy's eyes widened at that. “Another man?”

“Yep.”

“I can't imagine how much that must have hurt.”

“It hurt more than I can put into words,” Marie said as the countdown began. “I'm Marie.”

“I'm Remy,” he said, smiling at her. “You wanna go get another drink and then maybe we could talk some more about these breakups? It'd be nice to talk to someone who understands for a while instead of just being told to get back out there.”

Marie broke out into a smile. “I think that sounds great. Lord knows I've been needin' to talk to someone about this but I keep gettin' the same reaction from my friends.”

“Then let's go get that drink.”

They walked toward the kitchen as everyone else had their midnight kisses, and it wasn't that much longer that they were sitting on the sofa, talking and drinking. They both couldn't help but think that it felt so nice to talk to someone who just got it, and when Remy drunkenly asked if he could kiss her, Marie drunkenly said yes in return. Before either knew it, they were making out on the sofa, and the rest of the party faded away. 

John was walking over to tell them that the party was over and it was time to go home when Remy broke away and spoke before he could say a thing. “Would you be interested in comin' back to my place tonight?”

John was about to speak up and tell Remy what a horrible idea that was when Marie broke out into a grin. “I think that sounds great, darlin'. Let's go.”

Bobby walked up to John and wrapped his arms around his waist as Remy and Marie got up and headed towards the room where all the coats had been stashed, and John leaned back into his embrace. “Remy asked Marie to go home with him.”

Bobby groaned. “This is going to turn into a disaster.”

“Probably,” John murmured. “But there's nothing we can do now but wait for the disaster to happen.”

Bobby sighed. “You're probably right about that.”

They stood there and watched as Remy led Marie out of the apartment, both hoping that this turned out better than they thought it would.

**********

It had been a month of meeting up to head out to a club and then going back to one of theirs' places to have sex before Remy decided that things should change. So, after meeting up that night so they could head to their favorite club, Remy took a deep breath and just said it. “Next time, maybe we should have dinner first.”

Marie turned around and glared at him. “I ain't goin' on a date with you.”

“Come on, mon cherie. One date can't possibly hurt, could it?”

“I do not date people, Remy. And don't fuckin' call me that.”

“Fine, I won't,” Remy said, but he wasn't going to give up. “But let's just have dinner anyway. It doesn't have to be a date.”

Marie stared at him for a moment before giving in. “Fine, we can have dinner first next time.”

Remy smiled at her. “Well, it's a start at least.”

Marie didn't know what to say in response, but she knew that she was going to have to stop this before it got too much further. She was absolutely never going to have a motherfucking relationship again. No way.

**********

As she headed toward the restaurant they were meeting up at, Marie spent some time wondering what the fuck it was she was doing. That first dinner had turned into another dinner, and that led to a lot more dinners after that. Those dinners had turned into them ditching the clubbing and just talking to each other for hours about life down south and how much they missed it. She had no idea how to take it.

She looked at her phone when she heard it ring, answering it when she saw that it was Bobby. “Hi, Bobby. Can ya make it quick? I'm tryin' to get to dinner with Remy.”

“You ready to admit that you're dating him yet?”

“I ain't datin' no one,” Marie said firmly. “This ain't gonna go on for much longer.”

“You've been saying that for three months, Marie. You need to realize that you're dating Remy before you fuck this up.”

“Is there a point to this conversation or did you just call to lecture me about somethin' you know nothin' about?”

She could hear Bobby sigh heavily. “John and I would like you and Remy to join us for a double date.”

“I told ya, I ain't datin' Remy,” Marie said, shaking her head even though Bobby couldn't see it. “So I ain't goin' on no double date with ya.”

She could hear Bobby sigh again. “Well, will you at least agree to join John and me? Remy has already said he will be there and it will be nicer if it's the four of us.”

It was Marie's turn to sigh. “So long as ya don't call it a date, I will agree to come.”

“Then it's not a date,” Bobby said. “I'll text you the details once we get the reservation made.”

“Sounds good, darlin'.”

Marie ended the phone call as she approached Remy's building, and then she buzzed the apartment to let him know she had arrived. Remy said he'd be down in a minute and Marie spent that time telling herself that she was absolutely putting an end to this after that dinner with John and Bobby. It just could not continue.

But then Remy emerged from the building holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers, and Marie decided whilst smelling them that these dinners and sex weren't such a bad thing after all. Why did they need to end? It wasn't like it was a relationship. It was more of a friends with benefits thing.

**********

“Can I ask you a question?” Remy said as they were walking back to Marie's apartment. “Why don't you wear any jewelry?”

“I don't wear any jewelry because the only jewelry I wanna wear is my grandmother's pearls,” Marie said. “I was supposed to inherit them when she died, but one of my motherfuckin' cousins stole them for his girlfriend before I could get back to Caldecott, and then when I tried to get him to get them back and give them to me, he claimed that he hadn't done it. The girlfriend broke up with him about three weeks later and took my grandmother's pearls with her when she left. It infuriates me still.”

Remy made a mental note of the fact that Marie liked pearls. “I'm sorry that happened. I can't imagine how upsettin' that must have been, but I know what it's like to have to part with somethin' that you'd always thought you were gonna have for the rest of your life. My grandfather loved restorin' old cars and there was one in particular that I was just in love with. He left it to me when he died but not long after that I was needin' money to survive more than I was needin' that car, and I had no choice but to sell her. There are still some days when it's all I can think about, and it makes me wonder what my grandfather would have thought about me doin' it. My father thinks he'd understand, but I'm just not sure.”

“I think my grandmother would have been furious with what my cousin did. She would have fuckin' destroyed him for doin' that. My great-great-grandfather gave those pearls to my great-great-grandmother, and then the eldest daughter has inherited them ever since. Since my mama was already gone, that meant they were supposed to go to me instead. I can only imagine how this fuckin' bitch who has them has treated them. She might not even have them anymore. It just makes me sick sometimes.”

“The thought of someone wreckin' that car makes me sick,” Remy said as they walked up to Marie's building. “So I completely understand.”

Marie sighed as she reached for her keys. “Alright, that's enough of this. I ain't gonna enjoy myself if we keep talkin' about this.”

“Then we'll stop talkin' 'bout it,” Remy said as Marie got the door open. “But thank ya for sharin' that with me.”

“And thank ya for sharin' that with me,” Marie said as they walked through the door. “But I'm serious about stoppin' this now. I don't wanna be thinkin' about my grandmother's pearls while you're fuckin' me.”

“We'll stop talkin' 'bout it, I promise.”

**********

“Johnny, I don't know what to do,” Remy said. “We're doin' everythin' that one would do in relationship, but she keeps sayin' we ain't in one. It's been almost a year of bein' told that we ain't in a relationship and I don't know how to make her see that we are.”

John sighed and stared at Remy across the table. “I think that if you like her as much as you say you do then you should keep after her. She'll either realize that she's in a relationship with you or she'll end things and you can move on.”

“I gotta be honest with ya,” Remy murmured. “I think Marie leavin' me might destroy me more than Bella did.”

John sat there in shock for a moment before reaching for his drink and taking a long sip. “You love her more than Bella, don't you?”

“Yeah, I do,” Remy breathed out. “And the fact that I don't think she loves me is kinda tearin' me apart.”

“So, tell her that on Christmas,” John said. “You two are spending Christmas together, right?”

Remy shook his head. “No, we're not. She wants to spend Christmas alone so I'll be spendin' Christmas alone too.”

John silently cursed Marie. “I'd invite you over to spend it with us but Bobby and I are going to Boston.”

“That's alright, Johnny. I wouldn't have intruded on your Christmas anyway.”

“Did you get her a Christmas present at least?”

“Yeah, I did. Somethin' that I hope will mean a lot to her but I dunno if it actually will or not.”

“I'm sure it will,” John said, nodding when Remy looked at him. “Have faith that it will.”

“I'm sure hopin' so,” Remy said, looking at his watch. “We better get back to work before Lehnsherr goes insane because we're thirty seconds late.”

“A very good idea,” John said, tossing his napkin onto the table. “I'd like to still have a job to go back to after Christmas.”

“Me too.”

**********

Two days before Christmas, Marie was just finishing up dinner with Remy when a wrapped box was pushed across the table at her. “You got me a fuckin' present?”

“Yes,” Remy said softly. “I did. Open it.”

“I ain't openin' it,” Marie said firmly. “We ain't exchangin' presents. I thought I'd made that very clear.”

“I know ya did and I don't care whether you got me one or not,” Remy said firmly. “Just please open it.”

Marie grabbed the box and stood up, putting her coat on. “I don't open presents until it's actually Christmas. Somethin' my grandmother used to say 'bout things bein' cursed if ya opened them early. Kinda ingrained in my head now.”

Remy stood as well. “You're not stayin'?”

“No, I'm not,” Marie said, turning towards him. “Goodnight, Remy. Merry Christmas.”

She was out of the apartment before Remy could say anything, and she kept glancing at the present in her hand before shoving it into her bag just so she didn't have to see it. She took the train to her stop and once she was inside her apartment, she pulled the present out of her bag and tossed it onto the coffee table. She went into her bedroom, collapsed down onto the bed, and went to sleep.

The next day, Marie had just finished up lunch when she went into the living room and saw the present sitting on the table. She walked over to the sofa and sat down, and before she even realized what she had done, curiosity had gotten the better of her and she was tearing the wrapping paper off the box. There was a velvet box with a note attached to it, and she peeled the note off the box and read.

_I know these aren't your grandmother's, but I hope that you'll like them and consider wearing them anyway. I love you._

Marie sat there in shock for a moment before setting the note to the side and opening up the velvet box, finding a suite of pearls inside. A necklace, earrings, bracelet, and brooch, the same type of pieces that the family heirloom set had. There were tears in her eyes before she even realized it and she swallowed hard as she set the box on the table and just stared at them.

It had been a throwaway conversation as far as Marie was concerned. A little lite chatter as they walked back to her apartment so they could have sex. Something that Remy never should have remembered. But Marie was sitting there staring at proof that he had. 

She picked up the note and read through it a few more times, her mind stuck on that last sentence. Remy loved her. How could Remy possibly love her?

The sound of her phone ringing broke her from her thoughts and she reached for it, answering when she noticed it was Bobby. “Merry Christmas, Bobby.”

“Merry Christmas, Marie,” Bobby said.

“Have y'all made it safely to Boston or are ya trapped somewhere because of this storm?”

“Trapped at our house,” Bobby said, sighing. “There's no way that we're going to get to Boston. Even if they get the streets cleared quickly, which never happens, they are still saying the roads are way too treacherous to venture out on. So John and I are staying here. My parents understood. Our health and safety are more important than quietly having early Christmas morning sex in my childhood bedroom before going downstairs and pretending that we didn't.”

Marie burst out laughing. “I can totally picture you two fuckin' in your childhood bedroom. That's exactly the kind of kinky stuff that turns you on.”

“I can't even begin to describe how good that sex is,” Bobby said, laughing as well. “You spending the day at Remy's?”

Marie sighed heavily. “He got me a gift.”

“What's wrong with that?”

“He got me a suite of pearls,” Marie said softly. “And he wrote me a note that says he loves me. I don't know what to do about it. I was plannin' on endin' this friends with benefits stuff after New Year's. It ain't nice to do somethin' like that durin' the holidays.”

Marie could tell that Bobby had just shaken his head. “Marie, I need you to realize that you're in a relationship with Remy, okay? You have been in a relationship with him since the night that you two met.”

“That ain't true.”

“Marie, I don't think you understand what your insistence that this isn't a relationship does to him. Because Remy is in love with you. He has been for a while. John and I have been able to tell, and he's said as much to us both. And I think if you look long and hard, you'll find that what you feel towards Remy is a lot more than just the friends with benefits that you're trying to make yourself think.”

Marie sat there for a moment. “I don't do relationships, Bobby. Not anymore.”

“And yet you've been in one this entire year,” Bobby said seriously.

“I ain't in a relationship.”

“Marie, you're in one whether you want to admit it to yourself or not.”

Marie just shook her head. “Was there a point to this call?”

Bobby sighed. “I'm just trying to help you before you fuck up what could be the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“”Well, stop doin' that and tell me why you're callin'.”

“I was just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas and to tell you that you're welcome to spend the holiday with us if you want to. I don't know what we're going to be doing because this is a last-minute change of plans for us, but we'd love to have you.”

“I just want to be alone on Christmas, Bobby, but thank ya for askin'.”

“Alright,” Bobby said. “I'll see you for the New Year's Eve party then.”

“I will be there.”

“Excellent,' Bobby said. “Oh, and Marie? Call Remy. Let him know how you really feel. I know that you know that is drastically different from what you're trying to convince yourself that you feel.”

“Fuck off.”

“Goodbye, Marie.”

Marie tossed the phone onto the table, set the note next to the pearls, and went into her kitchen. She really needed a drink.

It was Christmas Day before she thought about the pearls again. She'd wandered into the living room with a cup of coffee, fully intending to sit down on the sofa and just stare at her tree for a while, but she sat down and stared at the pearls again. After a while, she set her coffee down and picked up the note, reading through Remy's words several times before deciding that she had to stop lying to herself.

She was in a relationship with Remy, and that relationship had long ago turned from friends with benefits into love. 

To say that she was terrified would be an understatement, but there was a voice inside her mind that kept telling her that Remy would never hurt her the way that the motherfucker of an ex had, and after several minutes, she decided to listen to it. She grabbed the pearls off the table, headed into her bedroom, and got dressed.

The snowstorm was still happening when she walked out of her building, but it wasn't that far of a walk to the nearest station and the sidewalk was pretty much cleared. She soaked in the warmth when she jogged down into the station, made sure that she got on the right train, and sat there wondering what exactly it was she was going to say to Remy. The snow was falling harder when she emerged from the station that was closest to Remy's building, but that didn't matter. Marie just kept walking. 

When she reached his building, she pulled a glove off of her hand and buzzed the apartment. When she heard Remy's voice, she could tell he was confused that someone was there. “It's me, Remy. Let me in.”

The door unlocked a second later, and Marie made her way up to Remy's apartment. The door was open and Remy was standing there as she walked towards it, and he had a very confused look on his face. “I thought ya wanted to spend Christmas alone.”

“Well, I changed my mind,” Marie said, walking into the apartment and taking a moment to soak up the warmth.

She had her hat and scarf off before Remy walked around in front of her, and he broke out into a big smile once he saw the pearls that adorned her ears and neck. “You opened it.”

“I opened it,” Marie said, taking her coat and gloves off, tossing them onto the back of the chair that she always used. 

Remy got a good look at the bracelet on her wrist and the brooch on her sweater, and his smile got even wider. “So, you like them then?”

“I love them,” Marie said, walking towards him. “I love the note more.”

Remy took a moment. “You did?”

“I'm done lyin' to myself,” Marie said softly. “I'm just gonna let myself feel for a while.”

Marie reached out and pulled Remy into a kiss, and as Remy's arms slid around her waist, she knew that she was making the right decision. “I love you too,” she breathed out when they parted, and Remy's smile somehow got even bigger. 

“Really?”

Marie nodded. “I decided this mornin' that what I really wanted to do was spend Christmas with the man I love, so I came over. I hope that's alright.”

“There's no possible way that this isn't alright,” Remy said, kissing her again.

“Then let's spend Christmas together,” Marie said.

“Yeah,” Remy said. “Let's. Merry Christmas, mon cherie.”

Marie smiled. “Merry Christmas, darlin'.”

_forty years in the future..._

“And that, Marie, is how me and Grandma Marie met and fell in love,” Remy said as he finished the much tamed down version of their story. 

Marie smiled at him before turning to look over at her grandmother. “Are those the same pearls that Grandma always wears?”

Remy looked over at Marie as well, watching her talk to their daughter for a few moments before breaking out into a grin. “Yes, Marie, they are.”


End file.
